As we look forward to our 2022-2023 Season start it is with mixed feelings that we announce that Josh Tamayo has decided to pursue other opportunities going forward. After joining us in the Spring of 2016 Josh took the leadership role in Florivox and built Florivox into the choir it is today. Vox Choirs wishes Josh well in all of his future endeavors.

It is with great pleasure that we announce our new Conductor and Director of Florivox Choir. Kathy Haddadkar is a passionate conductor, educator, and collaborator who has a strong desire to help others thrive. A new arrival to Toronto, she is looking forward to exploring the city while pursuing her DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Toronto this fall.

Actively seeking to diversify and create transformative spaces for all, Kathy is thrilled to bring her extensive directorship experiences with the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Luminous Voices of Calgary as well as collegiate level, church ensembles, community choirs and instrumental ensembles to this role.

While most recently attaining her Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Alberta, Kathy has had the privilege of previously representing over 8,700 graduate students as Vice President Academic of the Graduate Students’ Association at the University of Alberta: a top institutional governance position alongside maintaining her private teaching studio and assisting as a section leader at Edmonton’s First Presbyterian Church.

Expanding her musical opportunities beyond her B.A. Mus. in Piano Performance and Voice Performance from Trinity Western University and ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Kathy not only served as Manager, Singer, and Accompanist of the 2018 British Columbia Youth Choir, but also as the alto section leader for the 2018 National Youth Choir, soprano section principal for the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers, and as a remote apprentice singer with the Canadian Chamber Choir in 2021.

Beyond these leadership experiences, Kathy continues to actively pursue performance engagements as both a collaborative pianist and a vocal soloist. She has engaged most recently in a chamber duo featuring Cecilia Livingston’s “Penelope”, as well as accompanied faculty, university-level choirs, and voice alumni at Trinity Western University. As a soloist, Kathy has also been featured in works by Bach, Britten and Vaughan Williams as well as Copland’s In the Beginning.

A scholar at heart, Kathy is the recipient of a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Master's grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her research seeks to raise awareness about the intersections between visual impairment and the choral arts in Canada. She has also been honoured to receive the 2021 Edmonton Centre College Development Fund National Scholarship from the Royal Canadian College of Organists.

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Matthew Pollishuke

President, Vox Choirs